Notifications

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Learn about the technical aspects of notification delivery on device, including notification types, priorities, and notification center management.

Notifications Documentation

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Push Notification Sound and Notification Service Extension When App is Killed
Dear Apple Developer Support, I am currently developing an iOS application that uses push notifications with custom .caf audio and a Notification Service Extension. I have implemented the extension to download and play a dynamic sound file from a remote sound_url. It works well when the app is in the foreground or background. However, when the app is force-closed (swiped up from multitasking), the Notification Service Extension does not seem to run. As a result, the custom sound is not downloaded or played. I would like to confirm: Is it possible to trigger the Notification Service Extension when the app is killed? If not, what is the correct way to play a custom .caf sound when the app is terminated? Should I preload and save the .caf file in App Group storage and reference it by name in the sound field? Are there any best practices or limitations regarding push notification customization when the app is killed? I appreciate your help in clarifying this issue. Thank you very much! Best regards, Phan Van Tung
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146
Apr ’25
Push notifications on macOS "discarded due to expiry"
I'm having a reproducible problem receiving push notifications on macOS 26.2. The pattern is that the push is received and then discarded almost immediately (there is a 60s expiration date) when on battery power and then when I plug in pushes start working and even if I unplug again it works for hours until breaking again. These are alert notifications with priority 10. Other team members have had similar problems but less reliably broken and even get a "stored for device power considerations" message followed by discarded (see apns-unique-id c29250a3-abbf-008a-96f9-a5384e32d1df). An example from my machine with the apns-unique-id 6b2dfe3d-af99-182a-0e1e-6b811d3ec486 which fails immediately. iOS is working fine however so this seems to be confined to macOS only.
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209
Jan ’26
Notification Identifier not showing on my profile
Im creating a basic app, needs push notification capability. I have created two profiles (development & distribution), selected my app in Identifiers and checked the PN box to enable it (no need for broadcast). I add the profile to Xcode and it says "Provisioning profile "New VP App Jan 2026" doesn't include the Push Notifications capability." What am I missing?
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108
Jan ’26
Push Notification Problem
Hello, i'm facing issues, when trying to integrate push notification feature into my app. the following message is shown and I don't know how to fix it: ExportArchive "Runner.app" requires a provisioning profile with the push notifications feature (Encountered error while creating the IPA) Thankful for any help! Best regards
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339
Mar ’25
Smart Adaptive Volume & Brightness - Say Goodbye to Noise & Visual Pollution!
Hello everyone in the iOS Devolution community! I'd like to share a suggestion that I believe would bring an unprecedented level of intelligence and comfort to the daily iPhone experience: Smart Adaptive Volume & Brightness. The Problem We Aim to Solve How many times has your iPhone rung too loudly in a quiet environment, embarrassing you in a meeting or waking someone up? Or, the opposite, you missed an important call on a busy street because the volume was too low? And what about screen brightness? It's a constant adjustment: too bright in the dark, hard to see in the sun. Currently, we have to manually adjust volume and brightness, or rely on Auto-Brightness (which only works for the screen) and Focus modes, which can be a bit "all or nothing." This leads to interruptions, frustration, and that feeling that your phone isn't really adapting to you. The Solution: Smart Adaptive Volume & Brightness My proposal is for iOS to use the iPhone's own sensors to dynamically adapt notification and ringtone volume, and screen brightness, to the environment we're in. How it would work in practice: Environmental Scan Before Ringing/Displaying: When a notification (call, message, app alert) is about to be delivered, and even before it makes a sound, the iPhone would briefly activate its sensors. The microphone would read the ambient noise level (in decibels), but without recording audio or analyzing any content. Just the "noise" of the surroundings. The ambient light sensor would assess the light intensity around the device. Intelligent and Coordinated Adjustment: Based on these combined readings of noise and brightness, iOS would make the adjustments: In noisy and bright environments (e.g., on the street during the day): The ringtone volume would be automatically increased to ensure you hear it, and the screen brightness would also be raised to facilitate viewing in strong light. In quiet and dark environments (e.g., cinema, bedroom at night): The volume would be discreetly reduced to avoid disturbances, and the screen brightness would be dimmed for your visual comfort and to avoid bothering others. Adjustments would be gradual, adapting to any type of environment (office, cafe, etc.). User Control: Of course, we'd have the option to enable or disable "Smart Adaptive Volume & Brightness" in the settings. We could also define minimum and maximum limits for these automatic adjustments, ensuring the iPhone adapts to our personal comfort levels. This feature would complement existing Focus modes, operating within the permissions of any active Focus. The Benefits for the User Goodbye to Inconvenient Interruptions: No more startling loud rings in quiet places. Never Miss a Call Again: In noisy environments, your iPhone will adapt to be heard. Constant Visual Comfort: The screen will always be at the ideal brightness, without blinding you in the dark or disappearing in the sun. Smoother Experience: Fewer manual adjustments, more time to focus on what matters. Guaranteed Privacy: The use of microphones and sensors would be strictly for environmental measurement, without recording or analyzing personal data. I believe this feature would bring a new level of intelligence and usability to iOS, making the iPhone even more intuitive and adapted to our daily lives. What do you all think of this idea?
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89
Jun ’25
Clarification on Timing for Critical Alerts Approval in iOS
We are currently planning the development of an iOS healthcare application that will require the use of Critical Alerts. I understand that these notifications bypass Do Not Disturb and Silent mode, and therefore require special entitlement from Apple. We understand that Critical Alerts require a special entitlement from Apple. Could you please clarify: Do we need to request and obtain Apple’s approval for Critical Alerts before we begin development of the app? Or can we apply for this entitlement after we have a working build or prototype ready? We want to ensure compliance and streamline our development process, so any guidance on the appropriate timing for the entitlement request would be greatly appreciated.
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97
Jul ’25
APNs "Discarded - Token Unregistered" showed an upward trend, from millions to tens of millions.
Dear Apple Engineer Recently we found that our push delivery rate has decreased. On the website "https://icloud.developer.apple.com/dashboard/notifications/teams/43Y657P48S/app/com.taobao.fleamarket", we found that starting from January 8, 2025, "Discarded - Token Unregistered" showed an upward trend, from millions to tens of millions. We have not found the reason, and hope you can help us. Team ID: 43Y657P48S Bundle ID: com.taobao.fleamarket Here are some failed tokens, in "Device Token Validator" The query is valid, but the user cannot receive the message: 56025f656cc3aa701898037f59e8d0cb937263ff5585cd1cec9ae661dcc15b19 5fbbd1e604d3662d7583e9377676f8fa276005145278d6dea04b4fc85a7b070e f0970602551f8d249d8f97960a74006ad78688b52fec6b0d19a585 207caff62e 9388fb40209c100afc2db728342f6fe86c7e34787a8fe4a92b73d2503c5286e0 a2819a4708462588b07452ed827d9afb03c343b586e70dcb67a9981f76295704 8949373cd43783fa3e23d38d55ee1fd72475b39f9c2d2fedca3ecb925b094240 Best Regards!
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345
Nov ’25
Clarification on APNs MDM Push Certificate per-customer requirement for MSP/multi-tenant MDM
Hello Apple Developer Community, We’re building an MDM product (SaaS, multi-tenant). I’d like clarification on the APNs MDM push certificate usage model for service providers (MSPs). Question: Is it acceptable for an MDM vendor to use a single APNs MDM push certificate owned by the vendor to manage devices for multiple, independent customer organizations? Or is it required/recommended that each customer (company) must obtain and use its own APNs MDM push certificate (issued under the customer’s Apple ID) for their tenant? Why we’re asking: We understand that many guides show the process where each customer logs into the Apple Push Certificates Portal with their own Apple ID, uploads a CSR provided by the MDM, and then renews yearly. Practically, for a small team and early-stage deployments, using one vendor-owned certificate across multiple tenants would be simpler. We want to ensure we’re not violating any policy, terms, or technical requirements (e.g., certificate ownership, topic binding, device token isolation, audit/compliance expectations). What we need from Apple (or authoritative sources): An official Apple document or policy that clearly states whether per-customer certificates are mandatory vs strongly recommended for MSP/multi-tenant MDMs. If per-customer is mandatory, please point to the relevant clause or section. If a vendor uses a single certificate for multiple organizations, what risks or consequences should we expect (e.g., compliance issues, supportability, potential program violations, off-boarding problems, etc.)? Context: We’re sending only MDM wake notifications (standard MDM flow). We understand certificates expire yearly and must be renewed with the same Apple ID to avoid device re-enrollment. We want to follow Apple’s best practices while keeping early operations manageable. Any guidance, links to official documentation, or clarification from Apple engineers/moderators would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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191
Oct ’25
Can I enable push notifications in an iOS app built from a web app URL using PWA Builder?
Hi all, I have a React web app that we use as a Progressive Web App (PWA). We currently: Use PWA Builder to package it for Android and iOS Host the app on a secure HTTPS URL Use Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for push notifications (working on Android) However, on iOS, we are unable to get push notifications to work. I understand that PWAs on iOS have limited push support (Safari only, and not through WebView). So I explored using Capacitor, but: Capacitor can load a server.url pointing to our hosted app (great for reuse), but push notifications don’t work If we build the web app locally (npm run build) and embed it in the native iOS shell via Capacitor, push works We would prefer not to fully merge our authentication and main app UIs if avoidable Questions: Is there any approved way to enable push notifications in an iOS .ipa built from a hosted web app (URL) using PWA Builder? If not, is embedding the web assets locally the only Apple-approved way to get push support? Are there any best practices or native plugin recommendations (e.g., APNs or FCM) for handling push notifications in iOS app? Thanks in advance for any guidance. 🙏 Let me know if more technical details would help.
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127
Jun ’25
PushKit (VoIP) delivery issue — user’s device fails to receive VoIP pushes; logging in on that device suppresses VoIP pushes for all devices of that user
We are facing an issue where VoIP notifications are not delivered to a user's device. If we login with the user credentials on another device the VoIP notifications are being received, if he logs in on his device VoIP notifications are not being received anymore on all devices. So When the user logs in on the affected device, all devices on that account stop receiving VoIP pushes (including the affected one). Logging out on the affected device restores delivery to other devices. What could cause this issue? It's only happening for this user so the configuration and mobile app PushKit code is working as intended.
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168
Oct ’25
LiveActivity start via APNs not working
I am trying to issue the "start" APNs push notification to start a live activity for my iOS app. The notification appears to send correctly, there is no error message, but the live activity never appears for any of my users (users are in TestFlight). In addition to issuing the APNs commands from my server, I have also tried using the CloudKit Push Notification Console to manually generate a "start" notification. It submits correctly but the live activity never starts. I have also checked the Console app to watch the device logs and see if iOS is rejecting/throttling the live activity but I don't see any activity related to the start message at all. Here are some details: App bundle ID: `com.penzu.moodmoji` APNs topic: `com.penzu.moodmoji.push-type.liveactivity` APNs push type: `liveactivity` Recent apns-id: `7b633309-b7fd-4163-b620-776efa04f315` APNs payload: { "aps": { "timestamp": 1742651625, "event": "start", "content-state": { "totalDays": 7, "currentDay": 2, "progress": 0.29, "status": "ACTIVE", "reportReady": false }, "attributes-type": "GoalActivityAttributes", "attributes": { "totalDays": 7, "currentDay": 2, "progress": 0.29, "status": "ACTIVE", "reportReady": false }, "alert": { "title": "It's day 2!", "body": "Don't forget to record every time you feel anxious today." } } } I can confirm that LiveActivities started by the iOS app with ActivityKit work correctly, and the app does appear to be receiving pushToStartTokenUpdates: struct GoalActivityAttributes: ActivityAttributes, Sendable { struct ContentState: Codable & Hashable, Sendable { let totalDays: Int let currentDay: Int let progress: Double let status: String let reportReady: Bool } let goal: SimpleGoal } for await nextStartToken in Activity<GoalActivityAttributes>.pushToStartTokenUpdates { // send nextStartToken to server... } The app I'm testing with is in TestFlight, using the production APNs environment.
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149
Mar ’25
Push Notification Icon Not Updated on Some Devices After App Icon Change
Hi, We recently updated our app icon, but the push notification icon has not been updated on some devices. It still shows the old icon on: • iPhone 16 Pro — iOS 26 • iPhone 14 — iOS 26 • iPad Pro 11” (M4) — iOS 18.6.2 • iPhone 16 Plus — iOS 18.5 After restarting these devices, the push notification icon is refreshed and displays the new version correctly. Could you advise how we can ensure the push notification icon updates properly on all affected devices without requiring users to restart? Thank you.
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316
Nov ’25
iOS 26 Notification Extension open(uri) Fails on Cold Start (LSApplicationWorkspaceErrorDomain Code=115)
I'm experiencing a critical regression on iOS 26 with a Notification Content Extension. extensionContext.open(uri) fails to open external URLs with LSApplicationWorkspaceErrorDomain Code=115 under specific conditions. Problem: When the main app is killed, and a rich push notification is received and expanded, tapping a button (specifically one with a transparent background, cornerRadius=0, clipsToBounds=false) fails to open its associated URL. Key Details: iOS 26 Only: Works perfectly on iOS 17, 18, etc. App Killed State Only: Works if the app is running (foreground/background). Works on Subsequent Notifications: The link will open if a second notification is received. LSApplicationQueriesSchemes: Confirmed to be correctly configured in the main app's Info.plist and present in the app bundle. Delay No Help: Adding a 1s delay before open(uri) does not fix it. My os_log statements confirm the button tap
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187
Nov ’25
Alternate App Icon Change Does Not Reflect in Notification Center on iOS 18.1+
Version: iOS 18.1 and later (works as expected on iOS 18.0 and earlier) Area: SpringBoard / Notification Center / App Icon Rendering Description: When changing the app's alternate icon using UIApplication.setAlternateIconName(_:completionHandler:), the icon is updated correctly on the Home Screen and App Switcher. However, in Notification Center, the old app icon is still shown for notifications, even after the change has completed. This issue only occurs on iOS 18.1 and later. In iOS 18.0 and earlier, Notification Center correctly reflects the updated icon. - Steps to reproduce: Create an iOS app with alternate app icons configured in the Info.plist. Use UIApplication.shared.setAlternateIconName("IconName") to change the icon at runtime. Send a notification. Pull down Notification Center and observe the icon shown beside the notification. - Expected Behavior: Notification Center should reflect the updated (alternate) app icon immediately after the change. - Actual Behavior: Notification Center continues to display the old (primary) app icon. The new icon appears correctly on the Home Screen and App Switcher. Restarting the device does cause Notification Center to update and reflect the correct icon, which suggests a cache or refresh issue in SpringBoard or Notification Center. - Notes: Issue introduced in iOS 18.1; not present in 18.0. Reproduces on both physical devices and simulators. Occurs with both scheduled local notifications and remote notifications. Restarting the device updates the Notification Center icon, but this is not a viable user-facing workaround.
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202
Apr ’25
PushKit with CallKit - CallKit not shown when app is in background or terminated
Hi team, I am developing VOIP feature using PushKit and CallKit but CallKit is not show when app in background or terminate state, now in foreground state I can call reportNewIncomingCall from pushRegistry-didReceiveIncomingPushWith and it's work as expected but the problem is in background or terminate state it's not my setup: PushKit is configured In Signing & Capabilities I add background modes (Remote notifications and Voice over IP) In info.plist I add <key>UIBackgroundModes</key> <array> <string>voip</string> I'm not sure should I create new VOIP Certificate but now I can receive message notification normally. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated Thank you
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161
Jul ’25